Easy Creamed Corn (without the cream)

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

This Creamed Corn recipe is really easy - there's only two essential ingredients in it, fresh corn on the cob, and bacon. The creamy bit of this corn recipe actually comes from the milky liquid that comes out of the corn itself.

Who doesn't love fresh corn on the cob? It's even better when the work's done for you with the kernels removed!

Corn milk? Huh? Don't know what I mean? Check this out:

Use a Chef's knife to cut part of the kernels, then use the back of the knife to scrape off the rest to make CORN MILK!

This part can get a little bit messy, so I encourage you to remove the kernels in a big bowl (place a towel under it so the bowl doesn't slide around) and if you get tired of running the back of your knife to get the corn milk, you can substitute in a large grater to get the corn milk.
Next, comes the bacon - chop it into small pieces.

Nice thick cuts of bacon

Put the bacon into a large skillet to render out the fat and remove the bacon. In the bacon fat, I decided to add some extra shallots I had on hand to add an extra layer of flavor to the dish.

Don't like bacon? Vegetarian? You can skip this step altogether and soften some shallots in 1 tablespoon of olive oil. The creaminess of the corn will still stand out in the dish.

Dice shallots softening in bacon fat

Once the shallots soften, add corn. Notice the liquid coming out of the corn!

Once you have it in a pot, you should have a 2:1 ratio for the corn:liquid, so add more liquids until you feel like it's enough.

The corn cooking, and slowly creaming up!

After 45 minutes of cooking, your corn is done, and ready to eat! I love that this dish doesn't add extra cream, milk, cheese or anything else to give ruin the fresh flavor of the corn.

Creamed Corn (without the cream)

1. Prep corn. In a large mixing bowl, begin removing half the kernels from the cob with a Chef's Knife. Leave some parts of the kernels left on the corn so that you can run the back of your knife through the remaining bits on the corn. This is what will really extract the creamy bits of the corn, essentially muddling up parts of the corn to give it extra texture and creaminess. I mentioned that if you get tired as you run the back of your knife on the corn, you can consider grating it with a large grater. This will get the juices out too.

2. Prep bacon and render fat. Depending on if you want to use bacon or not, you can skip this step and replace with just olive oil. Cut up your bacon in small bits, and cook on a medium high heat on a skillet until the fat renders and the bacon crisps. Remove bacon, leaving the grease in the skillet.

3.Add shallots and corn. In the same skillet that your bacon grease is in, add your shallots and cook until softened, about 7 minutes. Then, add the corn and its liquids. There should be about a 2:1 corn to liquid ratio, so if you don't have enough liquids, add more water. I've always had to add more water to this, so don't worry about it.

4. Cook corn in slow heat. Once the corn and water mixture comes to a boil, lower the heat down and simmer for about 45 minutes, adding water if the pan gets too dry. You can make this ahead of time and serve warm or at room temperature. Also, crumble the bacon on top.

Make Ahead Tip: You can prep the corn a day in advanced. Keep in mind when you put the corn and its liquids into the fridge, the fridge will naturally try to draw out the liquids and it will evaporate. So, to compensate this, I added a wet paper towel and placed it on top of the corn and sealed it tightly.